Project 19: A gift for a friend

I might be a little vague in this post because this gift is a secret. Shhhh.

Last year, we tore down an old cedar privacy fence in the back yard. This left me with a huge pile of beautiful weathered wood.

I mean, isn't that beautiful? It reminds me of a long walk down a country gravel road. I can't get rid of this huge pile of wood because I love it so. Back to the project at hand though. 

It started like this: 

I ended up taking it into the garage to cut because it was getting everywhere. 

I sanded off a lot of the texture since I was going to paint it and I didn't want all the paint to flake off. I still left the grain of the wood showing through. 

I picked out the design I wanted and printed out, sizing it according to my project. 

Using transfer paper I lightly traced the design and then "painted" it in. I use quotes because I actually used sharpies here since the grain of the wood is so pronounced. 

I think it looks great just like this, but I had something else in mind.....you know something with words. I love word art. P.S. That pink thing is a bunny tail. I'm painting on one of my kids old towels, it used to have bunny ears too. Then we got a dog. Ha! 

Here is the finished project. I added a little white paint to make it seem more worn. It is a gift for a friend that was there for me during one of the most difficult times of my life. We met on an online forum and realized that we lived in the same city.  Another friend is helping to make sure she feels her echo of love coming back to her. 

Project 18: Fairy Furniture

We have an ever evolving fairy garden. It used to be contained to one small area, but, that was before the dog. Our fairy garden is now outside the fence because of our curious, energetic puppy. It takes over a much larger area than it previously did so we needed some more furniture and accessories. My daughter, Josie, was very excited to try her hand at building a few things. Like many kids her age she's obsessed with the video game Minecraft. She liked making the fairy furniture with me because "It's like real life Minecraft Mom, I have to figure out how to build it!"

Project 17: Haint Blue Porch Ceiling

Let me start off by saying, I LOVE Pinterest! My degree is in Interior Design and one of my favorite parts was presentation boards. Collecting materials and photos to have a visual representation of your design. I'm a visual person and if I try to explain something I typically draw it for you. Having an online (clutter free) space to collect design ideas is really amazing to me.

This next project was inspired by a Pin that an old friend put on her Pinterest board (shout out to Meegan) for her new home. It was a Haint blue porch ceiling. It reminded me of my mom telling me why they had blue porch ceilings in Arkansas. So the ghosts and spirits couldn't enter your home and haunt (haint) you. Although my mom grew up just at the Mason Dixon line she was a southern girl through and through. This was a perfect quick project to spruce up our home and to connect me to my roots.

Project 16: Bath in progress

So by now this should have been an entire post. Things don't always go as planned.

This is the new sink for our hall bathroom. Rather, this is the defective sink that we are getting replaced so we can install it in our bathroom. This one has a lopsided bottom drain. Not so good for draining water. This project is so I remember that sometimes keeping a project on track is a project in and of itself. Amirite?

Soon maybe I'll have a better before and after for you......

Project 15: Garden Nook

While I've been working on the flower beds surrounding my kitchen garden I've also been mentally catagorizing the different areas in the garden. This part is a shade garden, this part is the kids play area, this part ....needs something. Then I found this beautiful old worn arbor on Craigslist. When I got it into the garden it was so big and beautiful it made me sooo happy. This was exactly what I needed in the garden. A little magical nook to rest and appreciate all my hard work.

This photo was taken through my craft room window. All I had done here was brush on a little chalk paint to change the grey worn wood into something a little more "cottage". My daughter Lili snuck outside and was playing her leapster. I knew I had a winner, if the kids are already stealing it from me.

I wanted to add a few more touches to really make this a destination that called to me.

Some pillows, some fabric and a few planters. It's coming along. I still have my eye out for a few things ( a chandelier maybe?) but I'm having fun adding some whimsical touches.

This is a project that feeds my soul.

Project 14: Flower Gardens

I've always been a garden dabbler. The only kind of garden I plan is a vegetable garden. Everything else just sort of happens. We moved to this home three years ago. That first summer I concentrated on building my raised bed Potager Garden.

This year though I've been able to concentrate on the flower bed border surrounding the Potager Garden. I had planted a few things, mostly divisions of already established plants in the yard. This year all of those things I planted three years ago took off. 

 Like this Iris garden along the fence and front sidewalk. This has just spurred me into putting more thought into the surrounding garden beds. Plotting and planning. This project is a big one that has taken up a whole month of spring. 

Project 13: Spring Entryway

I've been spending most of my time in the garden lately. Yesterday I spent a little while cleaning and updating our entry way. I had a pretty clean slate to start since I just emptied it for our new dishwasher delivery last week.

Now this is what you see when you walk up to the front door to our home. Some pops of color and a big, loud reminder that I love spring.